September 11, 2023 • 10 mins
As runners, we often hit bumps in the road, but what if these bumps could lead us to discover new horizons in our athletic journeys? Drawing from personal experience, I'm sharing my story of injury and how it led me to explore other avenues, tapping into an energy that feels just as rewarding and invigorating as running. It's an honest conversation about turning disappointment into discovery, and how the same determination that fuels our runs can be channeled into other exciting forms of physical exertion.
The road to recovery isn't just about physical healing though, it's also about fostering a resilient mindset. From cross-training to creative expressions, I'll be unfolding the various strategies I've adopted to keep the spirits high and maintain an active lifestyle. You'll hear about how diversifying my diet contributed to becoming a stronger athlete, and how these experiences have ultimately shaped me into a better runner. As the Olympic Trials draw closer, I'll also be sharing my anticipation to cheer on fellow athletes, a testament to the incredible resilience and dedication of our sports community. Join me and let's celebrate the power of embracing challenges with open arms.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, I have a bit of a confession to make.
If you follow me on Strava, youmight have guessed what I'm
about to tell you, so stay tunedfor today's show.
This is the Lucy Beatrixpodcast.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I know it's been a while sinceI've brought you guys an episode
, but today's show is about whatit's like being injured.
(00:24):
Yup, I'm an injured runnerright now.
I've got my training on ice, soto speak, because I'm not
really running at the moment,aside from here and there, as
I've been navigating this peskyshin injury that I'm currently
dealing with.
So let's back up.
I'm not your typical runner andif you've been following me or
(00:46):
you already know who I am, ifyou've listened to my podcast,
you know that I stumbled intothe sport of running in my 20s
and then, after running a 244marathon last fall, or a time
that would have qualified me forthe 2020 US Olympic trials I
realized that I could really dosomething with this sport if I
(01:07):
commit myself to it.
But, that said, I've come tolearn a lot about myself and
running and how.
The whole reason I got intothis sport was because it was
fun.
It was fun for me, or it was astress release as I balanced my
crazy job as a fashion model andI learned how to set these
(01:28):
personal goals and challengeswith running and get competitive
with myself and with others,and what I saw unfold was just
so rewarding and fulfilling.
But at the moment, all of thatis completely at a standstill
because I haven't been competing, I haven't been running fast
and far like I usually do,because I'm dealing with a shin
(01:50):
injury, and when I first gotinto running back in the day,
when I first started runningraces, this same thing happened
to me.
So this isn't my first rodeo.
Back in the day, I wrote anarticle called how to Win at
being Injured that I'll link toin the show notes, and basically
I know what it's like to beexactly where I am right now,
(02:11):
which is where you see all yourfriends running and logging
their 20 mile long runs on theweekend because they're getting
ready for their fall marathonsand it's all so exciting for
them, but it sucks for you as aninjured runner, and so for me.
Sometimes I wake up on aSaturday morning and I scroll
through Strava and I'm just kindof like bummed out because I
(02:32):
wish I was out there runningthose times running those
distances with my friends, butI'm not.
But what I'm here to say isthat there's a way to approach
injury that isn't all doom andgloom, and that's kind of how
I've been going about it,because I think, because I went
through it so badly in 2016,when I had back to back stress
(02:54):
fractures, I was out for over ayear because I had fractured my
shin and then I fractured myopposite fourth marathons
metatarsal in the opposite foot,so I was limping on both sides
and I never truly let myselfheal.
So I was racing constantly onthese stress fractures until
they got worse and worse andworse.
So, because I have thatexperience and I'm older and
(03:15):
wiser and I know that if I wantto get to where I want to go
with running, I have to just letmy body heal.
But, that said, I've also usedthis as an amazing opportunity
to get stronger and I actuallyam excited by the new challenges
that have come my way, becauseit's like, instead of thinking
(03:36):
about my day in terms of howmany miles am I going to run
today and how fast am I going torun and what does my week look
like with training, I've beenfinding new ways to get that
physical exertion in my body tofeel good and then go do other
things and get my head kind ofout of the running game for a
second.
And what I've noticed is that,even though I'm injured, as a
(03:58):
runner I feel very strong andI'm actually like I feel like
such a more multifaceted athleteright now.
So, in a weird way, having thisinjury has only made me that
much more excited about otheractivities.
And if you follow me on Strava,you know that I'm extremely
passionate about stair climbing.
(04:18):
I'm probably the only person onthe planet that's like this
obsessed with stair climbing.
And what I did is.
You know when I typically wouldgo to the gym?
My favorite workout in theworld as a runner is 10 miles
and under an hour.
That was like my go to.
I tried to do it once a weekwhere I would have a hard day
and go yeah, I'm going to do 10miles and under an hour.
Well, now I've transitionedthat same excited mentality of
(04:42):
this little personal challenge Iwould set myself up for and
instead I do a stair climb whereI try to hit around 400 floors
in an hour.
So that's about 100 steps perminute.
And this is not not easy it's.
It's a lot Like you really haveto put yourself in stair
climbing mode and be climbingconstantly to be able to get
(05:03):
that kind of stamina andendurance, and it's just so
different than the running.
So for me, finding this otherthing to get so excited, like
I'm going to go stair climb myheart out, I'm going to like be
cranking away on that thing asif I'm running 10 miles in an
hour.
It's the same time slot in myday that I'm going to go train,
(05:24):
but I'm just doing other stuff.
So for me, I found stairclimbing.
The other thing that I've beenmanaging to do while I'm
navigating this shin injury isincline walking, and it's crazy
how much of a workout I havemanaged to get when I do an hour
of incline walking.
So what I do is I go to thetreadmill, I set it to 15%
(05:47):
inclines, as far as it can go,and I start at about 3.6 miles
per hour and you're, you're fastwalking at that pace.
That's, that's pretty fast towalk out of 15% grade incline.
And so then I kind of just dowhat I did with running, where I
negatively split and instead ofbumping it up, you know, from a
seven minute mile to a sixminute mile over the course of
(06:07):
an hour for progression run likeI used to.
I do 3.6 miles per hour to a4.2 miles per hour of walking
fast and I'm sweating the same.
My head is in the same kind oflike go get it mentality.
I'm listening to my favoritesongs and getting fired up and
it's kind of just a shift offocus.
(06:28):
And it's not that I'm not likethinking about the running at
the same time, because I am.
I'm constantly thinking aboutlike what kinds of workouts I
need to be doing when to be ableto hit my goals and like what
kind of training will look likewhen I can resume my normal
running routine.
But that's just where I amright now and in a weird way,
(06:49):
it's kind of the silver liningto all of this is like having
this opportunity to exploreother avenues of getting
extremely fit, but doing thatwith just different kinds of
activities.
And but my mind is in the exactsame space.
So I think it doesn't have to beas bad as everyone portrays it,
cause I watched a lot ofYouTubers who talk about what
(07:11):
it's like going through injuryand all of this grueling hours
on the elliptical and justhaving, like you know, just
watching your friends doingeverything that you want to be
doing and like, yeah, it's veryhard, it isn't fun, and I feel,
like you know, I have a lot ofFOMO of thinking about my
friends that will be qualifyingfor the Olympic trials in Berlin
and I'm you know, I'm barelywalking at the, you know able to
(07:32):
walk the way that I want to,cause I have a limp and it's
just like so far from me rightnow.
But I know from my pastexperience, when I was limping
around in 2016 and reallycouldn't run and we couldn't
even come close to running,cause I was so broken that
things heal and get better andyou go back and you end up
stronger than you were, and Ihonestly believe that because I
(07:53):
saw myself get so much strongerand come out and run a 244
marathon after going throughsome bad injuries.
So I know, I know what this islike and I think I can kind of
see the light at the end of thetunnel.
Aside from the cross training,I would say another silver
lining to being injured as arunner is having this extra
(08:14):
energy or spark and able to putthat towards creativity and
making cool stuff or using theartistic expression and having
that extra glycogen that I mighthave used running fast to write
and to create and to, I mean,help my mom with her YouTube
channel, things like that, whereI'm just like I have a little
(08:35):
more energy, which I think whenI'm running all the time I don't
have that.
So I'm like able to actually doall these other really cool
artistic things.
And another thing is that Ithink that like taking this kind
of extended break from runningthat's forced, obviously, it's
not where I wanna be has helpedme maybe fill in any nutritional
(08:57):
gaps of things that I might nothave been eating enough of, and
like exploring and tryingdifferent things.
And so lately my boyfriend andI, who I live with, we cook all
the time and he's always makingdifferent foods and desserts and
we're, like you know,experimenting, trying different
things.
And I've been noticing that I'meating a different variety of
(09:17):
foods than I normally do whenI'm training, because I think
I'm so militant and specificwhen I'm in marathon mode, where
I'm only eating the same thingsevery day because I know that's
what works for me, it's notgonna upset my stomach for the
run the next day, whereas nowI'm a little bit more flexible
and I'm like, oh, maybe I'll eatthis and see how that feels.
And, sure enough, I think thatin the end it's filling in a lot
(09:39):
of gaps and ultimately going tomake me a stronger athlete and
a stronger person.
So it's not like I wanna beinjured, I don't.
It's not fun and it is kind ofhard to like wonder what's gonna
happen.
Like, am I gonna recover intime to qualify for the 2024
(10:00):
Olympic trials?
That's my dream.
Like am I gonna be able to doit?
But I also am thinking, youknow what?
This is a time to press pauseon the running dream and do
everything else I possibly can.
And when I look in the mirror, Isee someone who goes to the gym
the same amount of time a day,doing different things, getting
stronger, finding littleimprovements in other ways, and
(10:22):
I don't think that's so bad.
I actually feel pretty happy.
I feel like things are goingreally well.
So, yeah, I'm gonna be inBerlin.
You might see me there, say hi,and I'm gonna be cheering on
all of the people that I thinkare going to earn their spot at
the trials.
I'm so excited for so manypeople going after this big
dream that we all share, and sothat's where I am right now.
(10:46):
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
If you have any questions oryou wanna share any thoughts
that you have, you can find meon Instagram.
I'm at Lucy Beatrix,l-u-c-i-e-b-e-a-t-r-i-x.
And until next time, just befast, just win.
Hey guys, I have a bit of a confession to make.
If you follow me on Strava, youmight have guessed what I'm
about to tell you, so stay tunedfor today's show.
This is the Lucy Beatrixpodcast.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I know it's been a while sinceI've brought you guys an episode
, but today's show is about whatit's like being injured.
(00:24):
Yup, I'm an injured runnerright now.
I've got my training on ice, soto speak, because I'm not
really running at the moment,aside from here and there, as
I've been navigating this peskyshin injury that I'm currently
dealing with.
So let's back up.
I'm not your typical runner andif you've been following me or
(00:46):
you already know who I am, ifyou've listened to my podcast,
you know that I stumbled intothe sport of running in my 20s
and then, after running a 244marathon last fall, or a time
that would have qualified me forthe 2020 US Olympic trials I
realized that I could really dosomething with this sport if I
(01:07):
commit myself to it.
But, that said, I've come tolearn a lot about myself and
running and how.
The whole reason I got intothis sport was because it was
fun.
It was fun for me, or it was astress release as I balanced my
crazy job as a fashion model andI learned how to set these
(01:28):
personal goals and challengeswith running and get competitive
with myself and with others,and what I saw unfold was just
so rewarding and fulfilling.
But at the moment, all of thatis completely at a standstill
because I haven't been competing, I haven't been running fast
and far like I usually do,because I'm dealing with a shin
(01:50):
injury, and when I first gotinto running back in the day,
when I first started runningraces, this same thing happened
to me.
So this isn't my first rodeo.
Back in the day, I wrote anarticle called how to Win at
being Injured that I'll link toin the show notes, and basically
I know what it's like to beexactly where I am right now,
(02:11):
which is where you see all yourfriends running and logging
their 20 mile long runs on theweekend because they're getting
ready for their fall marathonsand it's all so exciting for
them, but it sucks for you as aninjured runner, and so for me.
Sometimes I wake up on aSaturday morning and I scroll
through Strava and I'm just kindof like bummed out because I
(02:32):
wish I was out there runningthose times running those
distances with my friends, butI'm not.
But what I'm here to say isthat there's a way to approach
injury that isn't all doom andgloom, and that's kind of how
I've been going about it,because I think, because I went
through it so badly in 2016,when I had back to back stress
(02:54):
fractures, I was out for over ayear because I had fractured my
shin and then I fractured myopposite fourth marathons
metatarsal in the opposite foot,so I was limping on both sides
and I never truly let myselfheal.
So I was racing constantly onthese stress fractures until
they got worse and worse andworse.
So, because I have thatexperience and I'm older and
(03:15):
wiser and I know that if I wantto get to where I want to go
with running, I have to just letmy body heal.
But, that said, I've also usedthis as an amazing opportunity
to get stronger and I actuallyam excited by the new challenges
that have come my way, becauseit's like, instead of thinking
(03:36):
about my day in terms of howmany miles am I going to run
today and how fast am I going torun and what does my week look
like with training, I've beenfinding new ways to get that
physical exertion in my body tofeel good and then go do other
things and get my head kind ofout of the running game for a
second.
And what I've noticed is that,even though I'm injured, as a
(03:58):
runner I feel very strong andI'm actually like I feel like
such a more multifaceted athleteright now.
So, in a weird way, having thisinjury has only made me that
much more excited about otheractivities.
And if you follow me on Strava,you know that I'm extremely
passionate about stair climbing.
(04:18):
I'm probably the only person onthe planet that's like this
obsessed with stair climbing.
And what I did is.
You know when I typically wouldgo to the gym?
My favorite workout in theworld as a runner is 10 miles
and under an hour.
That was like my go to.
I tried to do it once a weekwhere I would have a hard day
and go yeah, I'm going to do 10miles and under an hour.
Well, now I've transitionedthat same excited mentality of
(04:42):
this little personal challenge Iwould set myself up for and
instead I do a stair climb whereI try to hit around 400 floors
in an hour.
So that's about 100 steps perminute.
And this is not not easy it's.
It's a lot Like you really haveto put yourself in stair
climbing mode and be climbingconstantly to be able to get
(05:03):
that kind of stamina andendurance, and it's just so
different than the running.
So for me, finding this otherthing to get so excited, like
I'm going to go stair climb myheart out, I'm going to like be
cranking away on that thing asif I'm running 10 miles in an
hour.
It's the same time slot in myday that I'm going to go train,
(05:24):
but I'm just doing other stuff.
So for me, I found stairclimbing.
The other thing that I've beenmanaging to do while I'm
navigating this shin injury isincline walking, and it's crazy
how much of a workout I havemanaged to get when I do an hour
of incline walking.
So what I do is I go to thetreadmill, I set it to 15%
(05:47):
inclines, as far as it can go,and I start at about 3.6 miles
per hour and you're, you're fastwalking at that pace.
That's, that's pretty fast towalk out of 15% grade incline.
And so then I kind of just dowhat I did with running, where I
negatively split and instead ofbumping it up, you know, from a
seven minute mile to a sixminute mile over the course of
(06:07):
an hour for progression run likeI used to.
I do 3.6 miles per hour to a4.2 miles per hour of walking
fast and I'm sweating the same.
My head is in the same kind oflike go get it mentality.
I'm listening to my favoritesongs and getting fired up and
it's kind of just a shift offocus.
(06:28):
And it's not that I'm not likethinking about the running at
the same time, because I am.
I'm constantly thinking aboutlike what kinds of workouts I
need to be doing when to be ableto hit my goals and like what
kind of training will look likewhen I can resume my normal
running routine.
But that's just where I amright now and in a weird way,
(06:49):
it's kind of the silver liningto all of this is like having
this opportunity to exploreother avenues of getting
extremely fit, but doing thatwith just different kinds of
activities.
And but my mind is in the exactsame space.
So I think it doesn't have to beas bad as everyone portrays it,
cause I watched a lot ofYouTubers who talk about what
(07:11):
it's like going through injuryand all of this grueling hours
on the elliptical and justhaving, like you know, just
watching your friends doingeverything that you want to be
doing and like, yeah, it's veryhard, it isn't fun, and I feel,
like you know, I have a lot ofFOMO of thinking about my
friends that will be qualifyingfor the Olympic trials in Berlin
and I'm you know, I'm barelywalking at the, you know able to
(07:32):
walk the way that I want to,cause I have a limp and it's
just like so far from me rightnow.
But I know from my pastexperience, when I was limping
around in 2016 and reallycouldn't run and we couldn't
even come close to running,cause I was so broken that
things heal and get better andyou go back and you end up
stronger than you were, and Ihonestly believe that because I
(07:53):
saw myself get so much strongerand come out and run a 244
marathon after going throughsome bad injuries.
So I know, I know what this islike and I think I can kind of
see the light at the end of thetunnel.
Aside from the cross training,I would say another silver
lining to being injured as arunner is having this extra
(08:14):
energy or spark and able to putthat towards creativity and
making cool stuff or using theartistic expression and having
that extra glycogen that I mighthave used running fast to write
and to create and to, I mean,help my mom with her YouTube
channel, things like that, whereI'm just like I have a little
(08:35):
more energy, which I think whenI'm running all the time I don't
have that.
So I'm like able to actually doall these other really cool
artistic things.
And another thing is that Ithink that like taking this kind
of extended break from runningthat's forced, obviously, it's
not where I wanna be has helpedme maybe fill in any nutritional
(08:57):
gaps of things that I might nothave been eating enough of, and
like exploring and tryingdifferent things.
And so lately my boyfriend andI, who I live with, we cook all
the time and he's always makingdifferent foods and desserts and
we're, like you know,experimenting, trying different
things.
And I've been noticing that I'meating a different variety of
(09:17):
foods than I normally do whenI'm training, because I think
I'm so militant and specificwhen I'm in marathon mode, where
I'm only eating the same thingsevery day because I know that's
what works for me, it's notgonna upset my stomach for the
run the next day, whereas nowI'm a little bit more flexible
and I'm like, oh, maybe I'll eatthis and see how that feels.
And, sure enough, I think thatin the end it's filling in a lot
(09:39):
of gaps and ultimately going tomake me a stronger athlete and
a stronger person.
So it's not like I wanna beinjured, I don't.
It's not fun and it is kind ofhard to like wonder what's gonna
happen.
Like, am I gonna recover intime to qualify for the 2024
(10:00):
Olympic trials?
That's my dream.
Like am I gonna be able to doit?
But I also am thinking, youknow what?
This is a time to press pauseon the running dream and do
everything else I possibly can.
And when I look in the mirror, Isee someone who goes to the gym
the same amount of time a day,doing different things, getting
stronger, finding littleimprovements in other ways, and
(10:22):
I don't think that's so bad.
I actually feel pretty happy.
I feel like things are goingreally well.
So, yeah, I'm gonna be inBerlin.
You might see me there, say hi,and I'm gonna be cheering on
all of the people that I thinkare going to earn their spot at
the trials.
I'm so excited for so manypeople going after this big
dream that we all share, and sothat's where I am right now.
(10:46):
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
If you have any questions oryou wanna share any thoughts
that you have, you can find meon Instagram.
I'm at Lucy Beatrix,l-u-c-i-e-b-e-a-t-r-i-x.
And until next time, just befast, just win.
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